Do Unto Others

Matthew 7:12 "So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets." or Luke 6:31 "Do to others as you would have them do to you."

Have you ever really thought about these verses? Yes, I am sure we all have heard it more than our share of times, but have you really ever thought about it?

This verse is not about how others treat you, it is how I treat other people. If I want other people to treat me kindly, I need to do it first. I need to be the one that treats others with respect, because that is the way I want to be treated. If I complain about how others are treating me, I need to be willing to look at how I am treating them first. In our society, it is easy to blame others for how I am being treated, but when we look at God's word, I am reminded that I need to be willing to look at my own flaws and ask God to help me change me. If I am not willing to put effort into changing, do I really want to change? I need to be willing to ask myself questions in how I treat people.

• Do I want to be treated that way? 
• If no, then I have no right to treat anyone that way.
• Do I want to be spoken to the way I am speaking to this person?
• If no, then I need to be willing to change how I am speaking.
• Do I want someone to treat me as a enemy?
• If no, then I need to stop treating others that way.
• Do I want someone not to let me into traffic?
• If no, then I need to let others in front of me.
• Do I want someone to have road rage towards me?
• If no, then I need not to have road rage at them. 

This applies to every area of my life and yours too. Can you imagine if I am unloving towards my spouse, what am I telling my spouse, that is the way I want to be treated. If I am cold and uncaring, that is saying that it is OK to treat me that way. See I have a responsibility to take, I need to be willing to look at myself and ask the cold hard question... What am I doing that is unhealthy and do I need to change it because that is not how I want to be treated, so I have no right treating my spouse like that. 

This reminds me of a scripture in Matthew 7:5 "You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye." God is calling us to look at our own sins, before we are to help our brother/sisters.

Tough word, that I need to make sure I am being to others how I want them to be to me. It is easy to blame it on them, but the matter comes down to me. I can't say because they treated me that way, it is OK for me to do. Isn't it time, that we put what God wants into action? Time for change and where does change start? It starts by acknowledging our sin, confessing it to God, asking forgiveness from God and if it applies to other doing that too. Isn't it time for us to treat others how we want to be treated. I didn't say it Jesus did.

Overcomer

I woke up singing this song, I wasn't sure what it was, until I looked it up. I love the part where it says fix your eyes on the one that is holding you, there is nothing that He can not do. No matter where life has you, remember that the storms will come, but they do not have to hold you down, focus on the One that loves you, the One that will take you through the storm and even in the peace look to Him today. He wants us to spend time with Him, there is nothing more important in this world then spending time with God. If you feel overwhelmed, full of worry and doubt, how much time have you spent with God, have you given Him anytime today? 

Don't compare yourself to others, compare yourself to God. What is He calling you to do today?

Overcomer

Mandisa

Staring at a stop sign
Watching people drive by
T Mac on the radio
Got so much on your mind
Nothing's really going right
Looking for a ray of hope

Whatever it is you may be going through
I know He's not gonna let it get the best of you

You're an overcomer
Stay in the fight ‘til the final round
You're not going under
‘Cause God is holding you right now
You might be down for a moment
Feeling like it's hopeless
That's when He reminds You
That you're an overcomer
You're an overcomer

Everybody's been down
Hit the bottom, hit the ground
Ooh, you're not alone
Just take a breath, don't forget
Hang on to His promises
He wants You to know

You're an overcomer
Stay in the fight ‘til the final round
You're not going under
‘Cause God is holding you right now
You might…

Getting and Giving

In today's culture it is easy to think what I can get from doing something, but in God's culture, it is what I can give that matters, because what I can get is about self, what I can give is about the love we have for God.

God calls us to be a giving people, we are suppose to give God thanks in all things, we are called to love God with all our heart, mind and soul. Our first order is to God. We are suppose to give without ceasing to our spouses and then families and so on. God didn't just say these things to put words in the Bible they are directions for us to follow. When I put myself first, I am being selfish. God warns about selfishness, but today I have seen it, heart it, they will only help if they get something from it, but it comes down to giving without ceasing asking for anything back. Praying and just being in God's presence, thanking Him for every area of my life. I can't make it about how I feel or if I feel like thanking Him, I have to make a choice, set it in my mind and do it. The more I praise Him in the storms, the more I am keeping my focus on Him.

In our marriages, if both give to each other without expecting anything in return, it changes that state of our marriage. When we are both trying to serve the other, it doesn't just honor the our spouse, but it honors God. Because God has called us to love and respect each other. He has expressed how marriage should be in the Bible, those are not just words, but really instructions. When we follow them, it sets a tone for how your marriage will be. It doesn't always mean it will be easy, but it does mean that you can grow together and not just one person fighting for the marriage, but both of you. The devil wants to destroy marriages, he wants to get in and take it apart from the inside. The lie today is I can do it myself, I don't need anything from my spouse. See that is a lie, because God has directed us to be one flesh and in doing so, it is not about self. Selfishness is a sin, being all about yourself is a sin. When we really take a look at what God wants in a marriage it is hard, but with God all things are possible.

What I am saying can be applied through our lives with family, friends and work, it isn't about what we get, but what we give. God has given us direction, they are not just to be read, but followed. When we want order in our lives are we out of order for what God calls us to do?

Hard questions, when we are not following what God wants, are we following God or self?

Remember this, if something someone else does irritates you, look at your own life to see if you do the same thing to others. This is a balance system, it helps us do to others as we would have them do to us.

Keeping Our Eyes on God

This morning in my devotionals was about keeping your eyes on God even when the storms of life surround you. 

I was thinking about the culture of today, it is easy to focus on self, instead of putting God at the center. I could become so self absorbed that I miss what God is saying to me, the storms wage around me and God is right there with me saying Geoff focus on me, I am in this, for I never leave you nor forsake you. I am here going through this storm with you, but how many times do I feel like I am alone in it? I feel that I have to wage the war myself, but that is such a lie from the pit of hell. The devil wants us to believe we are all alone, that the storms will only get worse, that we can't make it. The devil feeds us lies every single day, that we are not good enough, or handsome/pretty enough, that this and that is wrong with us, but God says He created us, that we are His children and that we are worth His love. The devil will constantly remind me of my past or tell me I am not good enough, I am not cool enough, that I don't fit in. It is time to stop believing the lies of the devil.

I was also thinking about a show I watched with a ballerina when they spin, if they do not pick a stationary mark to return to, they get very dizzy. God is our stationary mark in life, if we do not focus on Him, we will be spun around and around, we will lose our direction and be lost. God says focus on Him, He is our direction, He will lead us through the storms and through it all. 

I listened to a message yesterday about Good verses God. It is easy to live a life of just enough, just enough prayer, just enough bible reading, just enough time at church, but the rest of the time is my time (self centered). The problem with that is for one it is a lie from the pit of hell. God wants us to be in His word daily, He wants us to pray without ceasing, He wants us to keep Him at the center and that means that self has to die. To die to self is to live for God. It means God's ways are higher than my ways, it means that it is no longer what I want, but what God wants. 

This is a choice we have to make on a moment by moment bases. The devil wants us to lose our focus, he wants us to focus on all the bad, the spinning world, the garbage all around us. The devil wants us to believe we can't do it, he wants to steal our joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, self control and more. The devil wants us to be out of the word of God and he will say it does us no good. He will fill us up with lies and we can chose to believe them or believe God. What lies is the devil telling you today? What does God say about those lies? 

It is written in the Bible, James 4:7 "Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." Note it isn't just resist the devil, but you must submit yourself to God. I am yours completely. In the name of Jesus, devil, lies I will not feed you anymore. I have been bought with a price, I do not belong in the world, because I am heaven bound. God I am yours, all Yours. 

A song about this "Completely" < this is a link to the song.

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This is my devotional from today from Dr David Jeremiah from Turning Points.

Eyes on the Ball

"For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon You."
2 Chronicles 20:12b
Imagine landing a jet on the rolling deck of an aircraft carrier in the pouring rain—in the middle of the night. It’s complicated, but it boils down to a single request from the Landing Signal Officer to the incoming pilot: “Call the ball.” The “ball” is a round light shining toward the plane that the pilot uses to line his plane up with the carrier’s deck. When the pilot sees the “ball” and is confident of his path, he responds, “Ball.” From that point until he lands he has one lifesaving task: to keep his eye on the ball.

Think now of dark times in life when you’re looking for a port in the storm, a place to land safely and in one spiritual and emotional piece. Lots of things may help—friends, funds, family. But there is one thing absolutely essential: keeping your eyes on the Lord. When Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, was surrounded by a vast army, the people of Judah came together. Jehoshaphat led in a prayer for God’s help, the last words of which were these, “Nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon You.”

You can only follow God if your eyes are on Him. The destination is wherever He leads.

It costs to follow Jesus Christ, but it costs more not to.
Unknown

Wish You Had More Faith? By Allison Bown

This was sent to me by Graham Cooke Brilliant Perspective website. I wanted to share it, because I think it is such a good read. Thank you for reading.

Wish You Had More Faith?

By Allison Bown

“I wish I had more faith.” It’s a statement I hear often in conversations with people who are looking for more in their relationship with God. Sometimes it comes with a bit of a sigh or sense of recommitment to try harder. And my response?

“Please don’t.”

Please don’t depend on wishing or trying harder. It puts the weight of having faith all on your shoulders—and our shoulders weren’t created for that. Trying to have more faith turns a partnership with God that was made to be shared and light into a one man show where we bear all of the responsibility.

Instead, faith is our response to God’s ability, not our own.

Faith is a natural outcome of knowing who He really is, not a goal to be attained. Think of a child that’s willing to be tossed in the air by a good Dad. They don’t study the physics of it all or ask for the father’s previous tossed-to-drop ratio. Their faith is in who is about to throw them into the unknown, an outcome of a lifetime relationship that says, “I can trust my Dad.”

Faith is relational, not informational—it works through love, not intellect or effort (Galatians 5:6). We live our way into greater faith. It’s the process of knowing by experience the loving, faithful, peaceful, powerful nature of the One that we’re believing in. From that place, we’ll gladly relinquish our hold on the outcomes of our lives and know that we’re in a safe place (2 Timothy 1:12).

Our faith rises when we’re thankful because thanksgiving is an act of receiving.

Faith is accelerated in an atmosphere of thanksgiving. We’re saying, “I believe this promise is mine. I believe You’re really like this God.1 Thank you for such a gift.” When I’m filled with gratitude for His provision, then I’m agreeing with Him that it really does belong to me—and I’ll take it. You can’t write a thank you note for a present you refused to receive.


So make a divine exchange in your thinking about faith and be free from the weight of trying to have more of it. Instead, cultivate an internal atmosphere of thanksgiving and bask in the affection of the God who adores you.1Faith will naturally rise in that environment and your confidence in the Lord who promises to catch you always will become your greatest reality on earth—-which just happens to be how it exists in heaven too.


— Allison Bown

"Lord Over All"

"Lord Over All"

In the valley of the unknown
I will lift my voice
In the shifting, in the shadow
I know You are with me

Lord over all
You will be my rescue
You will never fail
Lord, through it all
I will choose to trust You
You will never fail

In the searching and the waiting
You quiet my soul
In the stillness of Your presence
I know You are with me

Out of this darkness
Into Your promise
You will deliver me
Eternal Savior
You stand forever
You are my victory

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I listen to a message on Sunday and some of it had to do with worrying, today I heard another message about the same thing. It is so easy to worry about today, tomorrow or even next week. I believe Jesus wants us to throw all of our cares on Him. He doesn't want us to worry, because even in it all, He is in it. We seem to take Him out of it, because worry is about self, it is about what can I do to get through this, or I have such a busy schedule next week. Instead of it being about Jesus it is about self. When we say Lord you know what today, tomorrow, next week will hold and I give it to you, please guide me through it all. I am giving it to Him, when I take it back and start worrying again, that is called sin, because I am not trusting God, I am having little to no faith, because I say Lord I can do it better than You. Faith says that He can do it better than me. He wants us to turn to Him in everything, not just the bad, but also the good.

Isn't it time to do it God's way? We have seen what worry does to us, we get stressed out, it effects our marriages, home, families, but when we give it to God, He will work it out. Yes, it may seem like He isn't, but is that faith? He is saying do you trust Me? And that is when we must say Lord yes, I trust You. Take a look at Job, he didn't give up on God. How many times have I given up on God and tried to do it myself? 

Change starts with you, take the first steps to trust God today. Stop worrying about what you can do and start trusting God in what He will do. 

Have a blessed day!